A number of people have asked me what set-up parameters are required to set-up my league management software for a new league.

Here are the basic questions :

1. In what year did the ? league start?2. How many of the ? divisions are open?3. What are the rating limits (if any) for each division?4. Is multi-club membership for players permitted?5. Are players required to be registered before playing for the first time? 6. Is there a system of player nomination? 7. Is there a concept of over rated players? 8. Are there are any knockout competitions? 9. Are there any individual competitions? 10. What is the standard start time for matches? 11. What are the various time control options for each division? 12. What are the number of boards for each division and KO competition? 13. Is adjournment permitted in any divisions : which ones? 14. Is adjudication permitted in any divisions : which ones? 15. Are any divisions age limited? 16. Are board colours pre-decided or decided by toss for each division? 17. What is the name of the trophy for each division?

On top of this I would need to be supplied with :

1. the names (and ECF codes) of each club2. the details of each club secretary3. the details of each of the team captains4. the fixture list5. which teams play in which division6. the details of the league officers7. The ECF codes of the players likely to play plus names for those without codes.

I would imagine there are a few factors:1) Club nights2) Capacity of venue (Might only get two matches at the same club possible)3) Alternating home and away matches if possible4) Playing A v B teams in a division before they can play other clubs5) Stretching it out a bit (so the season doesn't finish in February)6) Avoiding clashes with other Leagues in which a club might be entered, e.g. a Birmingham 1 team would be similar in make up to a Wolverhampton 1 team

I would imagine that this might be more hassle than its worth, but if it can be done for the Football League...

In the Surrey Border League there's another significant constraint. The divisions are all grading limited, except Div. 1. Some clubs have players who play for more than one of their club's teams. A typical situation is that a club has teams in divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4. The same players play on the club's lower boards in the 1st division and the higher boards in 2nd division, and likewise for the other teams. The club doesn't want the 1st and 2nd teams to play on the same night, and usually not in the same week, nor the 2nd and 3rd teams, nor the 3rd and 4th teams. It wants the 1st and 3rd teams to play on the same night and the 2nd and 4th teams to play on the same night, so as many nights as possible remain available for matches in other leagues.

Yes, but I suspect it is already out there via an eXcel spreadsheet solution. However, I did consider designing a free to use web app that anyone could upload their division plus constraints and it would spew out a list of dates and fixture IDs.

John Upham wrote:Those planning fixtures by the lovely method of a quaint fixtures meeting can note these fixture to avoid clashes when creating their own.

This may be useful to the Berkshire Chess Association, Surrey League and Thames Valley League.

It's not difficult to generate a fixture list. All you need is an all play all pairing template and a bit of spreadsheet expertise.The point of a fixtures meeting is that in an area with overlapping leagues or clubs with teams in two leagues, it's immensely helpful to have one league (Bucks) with fixed fixtures and the other league (Berks) with variable fixtures. I imagine the same would apply if you have "fixed" Border v variable Berks. If you have two leagues dictating fixture dates without any cross-referencing, the dictated fixture lists are likely to be worse than useless as many would need to be rearranged to avoid clashes.

How do you think I generate the templates used at the Berks fixtures meeting?

It would be trivial to replace the date range with a fixed date but pointless as people want flexibility to move fixtures. The only art is to fix the pairing numbers or round sequence so that teams from the same club automatically meet in the first round. I wouldn't use random number generation because I would apply the premise that in a single round league with a mostly fixed number of teams, you expect alternation from one year to the next particularly where longish distances can be involved.

Roger de Coverly wrote:How do you think I generate the templates used at the Berks fixtures meeting?

It would be trivial to replace the date range with a fixed date but pointless as people want flexibility to move fixtures. The only art is to fix the pairing numbers or round sequence so that teams from the same club automatically meet in the first round. I wouldn't use random number generation because I would apply the premise that in a single round league with a mostly fixed number of teams, you expect alternation from one year to the next particularly where longish distances can be involved.

Those factors are built into the constrants and the dice is thrown at the end where the constraints allow that to be used.